This is everyday in our house. I work from home. I freelance. I work for myself. My work schedule “revolves around my child’s schedule” – or that’s the going party line at least.

Truth be told, I do have a flexible work schedule I work from my home office or my couch with my trusty beast Jonah sitting by my side ( most times in pj’s), or meet fellow worker bees such as myself at a coffee shop to work together , I work late into the night, I have mini dance breaks in between computer work to keep it real and check my email every time I get an alert which can be up to 100 times a day. No joke!

Welcome to my Social Media World!

Poor Lilypie gets to see me work all the time!

Now I am NOT that parent who is feeding the kid with one hand and typing on the other. I do set very strict boundaries for work. I am very good about shutting off things from 3pm – 8pm ..buuuut there is the occasional deadline that needs to be met and social media peak times for certain demos are during 3pm and 8pm EST because we are also hitting the west coast market and it’s daily and I need to get the promos out and the engagement level up and the brand messaging to read clearly and… and.. and…

And I am REEEEAAALLLYY good about shutting it down on the weekends. I try really hard to work only after Lily is in bed so as not to interfere with my monkey time with her!

Recently I had 2 back to back days of 8am – 6pm work in NYC. It was a rare 2 days as I actually had to leave my house to work. I left before Lily woke up and came home right in time for dinner, when she saw me at 6:30pm she said, “ Mommy you’ve been gone all day. I really missed you. Do you have to do that again?” followed by the sweetest snuggly hug.

We got into a conversation about how some parents have to do this everyday and that we should be so very thankful that both Matt and I have flexible schedules that allow us maximum family time.

Lily does love my lifestyle, I mean it’s pretty sweet when you break it down…I get to dance weekly and make art, I’m home hanging about and working while snuggling with Lily and Jonah, I sit on my porch swing with my laptop while Lily sits on the rocking chair on the porch and paints or reads. My Social Media Work allows me to have the best of both worlds.

I am very thankful for all the amazing opportunities that come my way and the tools to be able to balance my life and family and dance worlds. No complaints.

So in closing, I did not “take my child to work” today… because everyday is such a day for me.

Like this:

Most of my New Years resolutions have taken off and I am buckled in and loving the ride.

I have 4 AMAZING clients for social media. All projects I love and look forward to every morning. I have so much work that I am in the process of hiring an assistant… well at least I am in the process of thinking about hiring an assistant. I have hired an employee in the past and that in itself is work, so I’m processing this.

My dance life is coming back in a new way. I am part of an amazing program at the Mark Morris Dance Group where I am getting trained to teach dance to people with Parkinson’s Disease. Dance For PD.

I am a brand amabassador for WalkAbout and a Coppertone Water MOM – more on this later.

Our home life is awesome sauce with many family trips coming up and weekend jaunts here and there.

My grassroots project with my friend Sarah O’Grady – OCCUPY MAIN STREET– has received so much buzz it’s unbelievable! We have an amazing event coming up in June that is going to prove the power of action and the positive effect this has on small communities.

Lily has decided to dig a swimming pool in our back yard… with a spoon.

Jonah continues to have nasty gas and we can’t figure out the root of this evil.

Matt finished his final paper for his Executive Masters… woot! Graduation in May!

This poor blog never gets any love… but I’m working on it!

I have slowly released my Pinterest time suck! ( I’m getting paid to pin for a client so it’s not exactly a time suck when you are clocking in the cha-chings!)

Like this:

4 years ago today, we received a phone call from our adoption attorney saying, ” I don’t know how this miracle has happened, but the adoption is moving forward”

I cannot express to you the joy and shock Matt and I felt when we got this news.

Lily was with us when she was 1.5 yrs old. We thought the adoption was final but the state of Florida and the social workers and their crooked ways made a horrible mistake and we lost Lily after being with her for just 45 days.

I won’t go into the details for why we lost her.

After 2 years of the darkest sadness and dealings with attorneys and birth parents and wicked social workers… she finally found her way home to us!

Lily has changed my life in ways I could have never imagined.

My mom calls today, Lily’s Miracle Day. We flew down to Florida as soon as we could. To help the transition, Matt and I stayed in Florida for a few weeks and came back to NY in May as a family. Lily remembered so much from being with us few years back. She remembered her toys, our Newfoundland dog Lincoln, and even her backyard and where to find the best worms.

It was meant to be.

Easter and Springtime is a season of rebirth, Lily coming back to us was a rebirth for our family and I will always cherish this time of year.

Like this:

We woke up late and rolled around in bed. I bribed her into giving me a back and face massage…candy is her weakness. We finally made it downstairs around 9:30am, she had her breakfast and I got out my laptop at the kitchen table. Before I knew it… we had settled into a nice little morning rhythm with me working away and Lily singing songs and doing the dishes!

This is her first time doing the dishes and she totally zen -ed out with the soap and sponge and dirty cups.

I love these moments. Listening to Lily singing is quite possibly my most favorite thing. She gets lost in song when she’s out in nature, or gardening, or riding her bike – often times the wind carries her soft melodies in my direction.

I remember as a kid, i loved cleaning the floors. i loved housework. There was something so fun and “role-playing” like about household chores. Sadly this has not stuck in my adulthood.

Lily is growing up so very fast. These little moments are such gems and I am only too happy to capture them here on this online journal.